It is awkward and often dangerous to attempt to hold a nail in place with one hand while using a hammer in the other hand to strike the nail and drive it into a desired position in an underlying surface. Many a thumb has been smashed by persons attempting that exact procedure. Moreover, if such a procedure offers dangers to adults, it offers considerably more dangers to children who are not as skilled or dextrous in the use of hand tools.
In recognition of the problems in trying to digitally grasp and hold a nail while it is being driven, there have been many attempts in the prior art to provide nail holders which will serve the purpose of holding the nail in some form of tool or device while the user hammers the nail into position. Some of these prior art attempts are disclosed in U.S. Patents, as noted hereinafter.
In U.S. Pat. No 3,060,442, issued Oct. 30, 1962 to R. Tomek, there is disclosed a nail holder having an open end with a slit therein to form a pair of confronting jaws. Each jaw has a semi-cylindrical recess formed therein and the pair of jaws form a cylindrical recess into which a nail to be driven is inserted and held. Once the nail is partially driven, the holder is slid away to permit the nail to exit through the open end of the holder.
In U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 28,159 issued Sep. 17, 1974 to J. Litz, there is disclosed a nail holder which has a flat portion created by two spaced parallel walls, with a resilient material sandwiched therebetween. Preformed holes extend through the walls and the resilient material, with each hole having a communicating side slot. In use, the nail to be drive is inserted into a preselected hole where it is held in position by the resilient sandwiched material. Once the nail is partially driven, the holder is moved toward the side, to slide the exposed nail portion through a side slot.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,193, issued Nov. 12, 1974 to F. H. Brunstetter, there is disclosed an elongated tool having a concave cavity at the forward end thereof. This cavity is covered by a flexible sleeve 30 which has an aperture therein surrounded by circumferentially spaced flaps. In use, the nail head is inserted past the flaps, through the aperture and into the cavity. The outer end of the tool is then struck by a hammer, to cause the tool to drive the nail. When the nail is partially driven, the tool is removed and the nail head exits through the aperture and past the flaps.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,779, issued Mar. 30, 1976 to D. H. Sudol, there is disclosed a simple foam plug having a side slot therein. The nail is inserted into the plug through the slot, is partially driven home, and the plug is then removed by withdrawing the nail back through the slot.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,624, issued Jan. 25, 1977 to F. W. Holstein, there is disclosed a flexible strap having a aperture therein, into which a nail can be inserted and held in position while it is partially driven. Thereafter, a nail set is used to drive the nail completely home.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,923, issued Jul. 4, 1989 to R. G. Voss, there is disclosed a flexible nail holder having an end slot and a nail receiving hole. When the nail is partially driven, the holder is withdrawn and the nail exits through the end slot.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,641, issued Sep. 30, 1997 to R. E. Stephenson, Jr., a nail holder is formed of a flat foam block having a edge slit therein which can hold a nail being driven. When the nail is partially drive, the holder is withdrawn and the nail exits through the slit.
While all of these nail holders offered an improvement over simply holding the nail by hand while it is being hammered, they all still had certain disadvantages. Some of the prior art units had slits or slots through which the nail could exit, requiring that the operator hold the nail holder exactly in position or else the nail would escape from the holder. Other prior art devices consisted of easily moveable holders, like a block of foam or a flexible strap, and these devices likewise presented the user with the difficult task of holding the device in the exact position while the nail was being driven. Still other prior art devices consisted of expensive tools which were expensive to manufacture and maintain. Any many of the prior art devices were simply too complicated to permit easy use by children, who might be tempted to try their hand at carpentry or woodworking.